Over at Garden Rant Amy has posted a survey asking â€œwho are Garden Rant Readers?â€ Head on over and take the survey.

Amy, one of the writers for Garden Rant was nice enough to mention my blog in her latest post. Needless to say I am excited and proud that she actually reads my blog. Nothing strokes a bloggers ego more than being mentioned by another blogger, especially one who I have always looked to as an example of a great writer. Amy has her own blog and it was there where she caught wind of my blog a couple of years ago, and posted on it. That was where I found out about the larger world of garden blogging, which I wasn't aware of then and I thank Amy for that.

I am passionate about business blogs. If you have a business and are not blogging I think you are missing out. Small business especially can benefit from the conversation that blogging brings. Its a way to let your customers and potential customers know about who you are and what your business is all about. It gives the small business a equal footing with the big players, as they hardly ever will be able to blog in a really honest and open way. Corporate culture just won't allow the honesty necessary to produce an interesting blog. There are to many â€œsecretsâ€ that can't be reveled.

The future of business, especially small business is in not having any secrets. The customer we are trying to attract wants to know more about the business they shop at. They want to make sure that the money they spend not only buys the â€œstuffâ€ they want but also supports the type of business they like. Blogs are a way to let the customer know what the business stands for. Its also a way for the customer to respond, as long as you allow comments.

The future of small business is to reduce the feeling of â€œusâ€ (business) and â€œthemâ€ (customers), and increase the felling of â€œweâ€. Small business needs customers who will spread the word about the great new business they have discovered. One way to help spread that word is through a business blog. When I Google a business I am interested in I look to see if there is a blog and check that out. Its generally less buttoned down than the company web site, and a more honest look at who runs the company.

Now that I have been blogging for a few years I am starting to see a lot more horticultural professionals visiting my blog. This is cool as our industry tends to be a bit slow when it comes to change. Never the less I have built this blog on my relationship with non-professional gardeners. They are the customers that give me the vital feedback to build our business. They may not actually ever visit my â€œphysicalâ€ location, but I consider them my customers never the less.

P.S. The above picture was one of the last of our vacation. We really enjoyed our coastal adventure from L.A. to S.F. It has rejuvenated us and now we are actually looking forward to getting back to work.